


In the spotlight

by ambreuk



Category: British Royalty RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-27
Updated: 2014-11-04
Packaged: 2018-02-22 21:18:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2522126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ambreuk/pseuds/ambreuk





	1. Holiday planning

‘’Pfff, I never knew it could get this hot in Scotland! I feel like I’m living in a desert!’’ Kate waved her study book in front of her face, hoping to cool off by the wind she was creating.

‘It could just be you’re overreacting, you go on holiday to very hot places every year.’’ William laughed. He tried to make a picture of Kate with his phone. 

‘’Don’t do that, I must look really stupid!’’

‘’Too late. This one will be my screensaver.’’

‘’Will!’’ shrieked Kate. She grabbed her bottle of water and tried to empty its contents on William’s head.

‘’Hey, stop that! I’m getting wet!’’ Will tried to back out, but Kate was far too quick for him. His hair and shirt were completely soaked.

‘’Don’t be such a baby, it is so hot you’ll dry up in no time.’’ Now it was Kate’s turn to take a photograph. ‘’I think I just found my screensaver.’’

‘’You’re mean’’, said William with a faked nagging voice.

‘’Look who’s talking’’, replied Kate. ‘’You started it.’’ 

‘’Oh, are we going down that road? You better watch it, Middleton, I am the King of trash talk.’’

‘’No, you’re not, you’re just the heir to the heir. Don’t be so full of yourself.’’

William laughed at loud at Kate’s joke. ‘’You can be glad I don’t have any water at hand, otherwise I would have soaked you too, for making that comment.’’

‘’Oh, now I’m really scared.’’

‘’Wait a minute, I can always throw you in the pond of course!’’ William stood up from the grass they were lying on and threw Kate over his shoulders.

‘’No, no, Will, put me down!’’ yelled Kate hysterically. She kicked and punched wherever she could reach him, but he was far too strong for her. William continued walking to the pond. People were staring at them.

‘’I thought you were hot, why not cool in the water?’’ said William as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

‘’William, please, I don’t want to be thrown into the water! It is really dirty! People are staring and pointing at us. Will you please let me go now!’’

‘’Are you sure?’’ William bent over so that Kate was nearly falling in the water. On seeing the true desperation in her face, he decided it was enough. ‘’Alright, I’ll put you down, but only on one condition.’’

‘’Name it.’’  
‘’You’ll want to take a shower to cool from the heat, and I’m showering with you.’’

Kate started blushing. She was glad nobody was close enough to hear his proposal. She winked at her boyfriend. ‘’Deal.’’  
\--------

‘’Mmm, best shower ever.’’ William was lying on Kate’s bed. They were back at the house they shared with two of their friends in Hope Street. 

‘’Get up, lazybones, I’ve been procrastinating for far too long already. I’m going to kick you out of my room now.’’ Kate was sitting behind her desk, organizing all her notes.

William pulled a face. ‘’It is far too hot to be studying.’’

‘’That’s what you said last year and then you barely passed the exams.’’

‘’Hmmpf, I know, but there are so many things to do outside when it’s this kind of weather.’’ William kept making up excuses that would keep him from going to his own room and study as well.

‘’No there aren’t any activities whatsoever,’’ Kate replied, ‘’everyone has to study.’’ Feeling she had to trigger Wiliam to get off his lazy butt, she added, ‘’and unlike you, we all don’t have any careers plotted out for which we are the one and only applicant.’’ 

‘’You only say that to get me to study, aren’t you?’’ Will looked at Kate with his head tilted in anticipation. ‘’I know you, Kate, that’s not your true opinion about me being a prince.’’

Kate sighed. ‘’Alright.’’

‘’See, if I’m clever enough to figure that out, maybe I don’t need to study at all.’’ William said cheekily.

‘’Well, in this situation you knew what I said wasn’t the truth, because you’re spending every minute of your time here. You haven’t spent that amount of time with your books, so your comparison doesn’t hold.’’ Kate knew she had him now.

‘Alright, alright, I’m going already.’’

Kate gave him thumbs up. ‘’Good boy.’’ Will sighed one last time, kissed Kate and left for his own room.

With William gone, Kate got to work. The next two weeks she had four exams. When they were over, it was finally time for their summer break. She smiled at the thought of it. Kate had been working really hard lately, wanting to pass with high marks. William didn’t always like this, but Kate kept her foot down. Her education was very important to her and she really was committed to the subject of her study. Besides, insisting on visiting the library and studying seriously, she motivated William as well. He never was the most inspired student, but with Kate at his side, he did what he had to do. He was a bright guy, so if she got him to study, he nearly always passed the tests and assignments. He never said it at loud, but Kate knew William was grateful towards her for making him study. If it wasn’t for Kate, Will would hang out with his friends all the time and never get his degree. That was the kind of public humiliation she wanted to spare him. As future King, he had to finish his education. Kate noticed she was letting her mind wander and refocused on the material before her. The subject of her first exam was Medieval Art History, which she thought really interesting. The statues and paintings had have a setback in quality because of the Dark Ages, but still you could see the makers were inspired by the classical examples. Kate got so focused on her subject, she forgot completely about the time and the heat.   
\---------  
The sound of her phone beeping caused Kate to startle. She had forgotten everything around her. She looked at the tiny screen and saw there was an incoming text message.

‘’Dinner?’’ it said.

‘’Already? I just started.’’

Beep. ‘’Look at the time.’’

‘’Oh dear’’, Kate chuckled out loud. As usual when she was preparing for an exam, she forgot about everything and everyone around her. It was 7.30 pm.

‘’I’ll be downstairs in 10 minutes. Too lazy to get up and walk the 10 yards to my room to ask me out for dinner?’’ she replied.

Beep. ‘’I’m at the store. Knocked at your door an hour ago, but you didn’t reply. Thought you fell asleep ;)’’. 

Yeah, right. Kate knew better than that. She hadn’t heard him knock at all. William, probably assuming Kate was too caught up in her studying, didn’t want to interrupt her and had left. 

‘’Love some dinner, what are you going to cook?’’

Beep. ‘’Who says I’m cooking?’’

‘’Well, I sure aren’t.’’ Kate always got lazy in exam weeks.

Beep. ‘’Wait and see.’’ 

He had bought two pizzas.   
\---------

Two weeks later the exams were finally over. The last three days studying were really hard for Kate as William already finished his last exam. When she walked out of the examination room, Kate felt drained. Unlucky for her, her last exam was the most difficult. She hoped for the best.

Kate checked her phone to see if she had had any messaged while making the exam. There was one from Olivia: ‘’Hope you did well! Enjoy your holidays!’’ Kate smiled. Olivia was already on her way home, back to her parents. There was another message. ‘’Of course you did well, stop worrying. I’m at the Gardens. See you in a bit?’’ It was from William, of course. Teasing her about the fact she had to study longer than him, he probably felt like making it up to her. If she was correct, he was waiting for her there with a basket filled with her favorite food.

However, she was wrong. When she entered the Botanical Gardens, William was sitting on a bench. ‘’Hey you, how did it go?’’ he asked when he saw her walking towards him. 

‘’Okay, I guess. I don’t want to get my hopes up too much.’’

‘’I’m sure you’ve made it’’, William reassured her. ‘’Come here.’’ He pulled her down so she could sit next to him.

‘’No food, this time?’’ she asked him, laughing. 

‘’No. I wanted to discuss something with you.’’ He’d gotten all serious now.

Kate got scared. ‘’Should I be worried?’’ She wondered if she had done anything to upset him, but couldn’t think of anything. In fact, she thought their relationship was better than ever, now they’d passed the fase when everything was new and awkward. 

William laughed at the sight of Kate’s face. ‘’No, not at all, babe. You know I have to spend the most of my holidays at Balmoral with my Dad and Grandparents.’’

Kate sighed. She knew that very well and she didn’t like it at all. It was one of the things she didn’t have any influence on. It was part of the tradition that members of the Royal family holidayed at their Balmoral Estate. 

William resumed talking. ‘’I know how you feel, Katie, but I have a plan. I can’t take you with me to Balmoral yet, not unless we are married.’’

Kate startled. Was this meant to initiate a proposal? Before she could think any more about that, William spoke again.

‘’You don’t have to look so frightened, I’m not going to ask you to marry me. But it is good to know where you are at that point.’’ He punched her playfully on the shoulder.

‘’William, you’re being mean. Just tell me, please.’’ 

‘’What if we went on holiday together, just the two of us?’’

Kate looked at William, completely thrown of course by what he had just said. Before she could reply, he elaborated on his plans.

‘’Don’t get your hopes up too much. We can’t go anywhere abroad at such short notice. I have to let my Grandmother know plans like these weeks in advance, so the security can prepare themselves. We have to go to any of our palaces or cottages in the country, but as far as I know, they are all being used at the moment: every family member is holidaying somewhere.’’ William felt very stupid. He thought his plan was amazing and now he realized he couldn’t go through with it. ‘’I’m sorry, he said at last. ‘’I should have realized earlier that it was not a thing I could manage.’’

Kate was silent. She liked the idea very much. She had been worried they wouldn’t be together the whole summer. ‘’What if we went to my parent’s house?’’ she said suddenly?

‘’What?’’ William startled. ‘’I never met them. I always thought the first time would not be a full two weeks or something, but just an afternoon tea.’’

Kate tickled him. ‘’No, dumb-ass, they are on holiday themselves, with James. Pippa will spend the summer in London with her friends, so the house is completely empty.’’

William was noticeable relieved. ‘’Okay...’’ he replied slowly, ‘’that could work.’’

‘’Of course it can!’’ Kate was getting really enthusiastic. ‘’We can swim in the pool, go for walks and canoe on the river! It’ll be great!’’

William smiled at her. 

‘’What’s the matter? Why aren’t you saying anything? Don’t you like it?’’  
‘’No, I really like your idea, but I have to check with my Dad first. I don’t think Grandma will like it very much that I’ll spend part of the summer at my girlfriend’s house, without her parent’s being there. She can be really old-fashioned with this sort of things.’’ 

‘’Why? You always said to me you can be as independent as you want to be?’’ Kate said disappointed.

‘’I can, but I need to check first. It’s just how it works in my family, you know that. I’ll phone Dad right now. Don’t worry, it will be okay.’’ William kissed Kate and removed his phone from his pocket.

William walked away from the bench and dialed Charles’s number. 

‘’Hey, Wills, how are you? Nice to hear from you again. Did your exams go well?’’

‘’Hi, Dad. Yeah, I think they did. They weren’t too hard.’’

‘’Glad to hear that. Why are you calling me, Will?’’

‘’I have a request to make.’’

‘’Oh, we’re going on the formal tour then? What’s up?’’

‘’I, ehh, want to spend to first two weeks of the summer at Kate’s parent’s house. That way we can be together, before we’ll all go to Balmoral. I know I can’t take her abroad, so it feels like our only option.’’ William crossed his fingers, hoping his Dad would agree.

‘’And why are you checking with me again?’’

‘’To make sure you’re okay with it.’’

‘’Don’t be stupid, William. Of course you can go, you know that.’’

‘’I was fairly sure I could, but I didn’t want to give Kate a false impression. She has yet have to come to terms with our conventions. It would be really disappointing for here if I said I could go and then it would turn out I can’t.’’ You think Granny will agree as well?’’

‘’What? Yes, of course. She always says you have to do what feels right to you. And it is outside the glare of the media and the paparazzi, so why should she say no?’’

‘’I don’t know. I’m being stupid.’’ William felt like an idiot. How could he not count on his own family? Like he said, he was as independent as he wanted to be.

‘’No, Willy, you’re not. I think you’re very sweet, not wanting to get Kate’s hopes up. You did the right thing, although it was not necessary to ask permission. You’ll come to Balmoral on your own account, I understand?’’

‘’Yes, I want to make the most of the two weeks Kate and I have in Bucklebury. I’ll drive myself. The usual two protection officers will accompany me there, I assume? Is it okay they sleep in a hotel? Nobody knows where I’ll be and Bucklebury is a very shielded village. Of course they’ll come with me if we went out.’’

‘’I’ll make sure they have all the information, Wills. Don’t you worry about that. Enjoy your stay and good luck meeting the parents!’’ Charles was laughing at loud, loving to tease his oldest son.  
‘’Very nice, Dad, but unfortunate for you, they aren’t going to be there. We have the house for ourselves.’’ 

‘’Hmm, what a shame. I would love to hear that story. The day will come eventually. Have fun, kiddo!’’ With that, Charles ended their conversation. 

Walking back towards Kate, William had a broad smile on his face. ‘’It’s okay, we can go!’’ 

Kate jumped from the bench she was sitting on. ‘’Really, how wonderful!’’ She put her arms around William and kissed him. ‘’Now we do have part of the summer together.’’   
\-----------------------------------------  
Splash! With an enormous force, William jumped in the pool. 

‘’Hey, watch out, will you? You almost jumped right on top of me!’’ Kate splashed water in William’s face as a punishment. 

‘’Of course not, I know better than to jump on such a gorgeous woman.’’ William grinned and took Kate in a tight embrace. He danced with her through the pool. ‘’Hmmm, I love to be here just with you.’’

Kate relaxed in his arms. ‘’Me too. It’s been a while since we’ve had absolute privacy.’’ 

They had been at Kate’s house four days now and had enjoyed every second of it. Not feeling the urge to leave the house, they had ordered food from the local pizza restaurant and had it delivered. The house was rapidly becoming a mess, too busy with making fun to organize. Kate chuckled. If her parents knew the state their house was in, they would be really mad. She should probably let them know they were here, now she thought of it. They would be really angry with her if they found out afterwards. Not bothering to get out of William’s arms, Kate decided she would let them know first thing next morning. 

‘’Hey, what you thinking about?’’ William let go of Kate, to make another massive jump into the pool. When he had emerged from the water again, Kate said,

‘’Just how perfect it is, being here with you, with nothing to worry about.’’ 

William smiled. ‘’I’m glad you enjoy it so much. I feel the same way. I only wished you could come to Balmoral with me. Then we could go hunting together, me shooting the pheasants and you picking them up when I hit them.’’

‘’Ah, Will, that is really gross!’’ yelled Kate. ‘’Glad we’re not married then! Come on, I’m getting cold. Let’s go inside, order food again and watch a movie.’’ 

‘’One more dive. I’ll be right behind you.’’

Kate grinned. She loved how William could behave all childlike. Wrapping herself in a large towel, she walked back towards the house. Soon William was behind her. ‘’Let’s not order dinner tonight. I’m really tired of all the take-away food.’’ He pulled a shirt over his head. ‘’Where are my slippers? I’ll go to the store. You stay here and relax.’’ 

‘’How do you even know where the store is?’’

‘’It’s a small village, it can’t be that hard.’’ William kissed Kate. ‘’Be back in a minute.’’

‘’See you later. Get something good for the dessert, though.’’ 

William laughed. ‘’Sweet tooth, are you not? I’ll see what I can do for you.’’ With that, he was gone. 

Kate laid back on the couch and started flicking through the TV channels. Nothing interesting, as usual. She texted William. ‘’Please go to the video store and bring back a good movie. Nothing fun is on.’’ 

Ten minutes later, Kate heard the front door opening. Confused that William could be back so soon, she yelled ‘’that was quick! I bet you couldn’t find the store and turned around, didn’t you?’’

‘’Kate, is that you? What are doing here?’’ Carole’s voice was coming from the hall.

Kate startled. ‘’Shit’’, she mumbled. ‘’This can’t be true.’’ Very aware of the mess around here, she quickly tried to organize what was in her reach.

Her parents came into to living room. ‘’Hi Mum, Dad, I thought you were on holiday.’’

‘’We were, but the weather was so bad, we decided to come back early. Nice to see you, honey. Do you have company?’’

‘’No,’’ said Kate immediately, colour rising to her cheeks.

‘’No?’’ her father asked confused. ‘’Who were you talking to then, when we came in?’’ 

Kate didn’t know what to say. How was she ever going to explain that she was holidaying with her boyfriend at her parent’s house, when they hadn’t even met him?

‘’Well?’’ Carole demanded. ‘’Are you going to say anything?’’ 

They both turned around when they heard someone coming from the hall.

William had come back.


	2. Finding out

‘’Mr and Mrs Middleton, how nice to finally meet you.’’

William was standing in the doorway, holding the bag with food in his right hand. 

Kate didn’t know what to do or say, she was rigid with shock. Her mother knew vaguely she was dating someone, as did Pippa, but Kate was fairly sure her Dad didn’t know anything. She had seen her mother for the last time when she was home during the Christmas break and had then told her she was dating. 

‘’Who?’’ Carole had asked.

‘’Oh, just some guy.’’ She was being vague on purpose. Although she knew William wasn’t just a fling, they had agreed not to go public with their relationship. That way, the press couldn’t find out and they had a little privacy. This meant as well Kate couldn’t tell her mother and sister, something she found really hard. They were enormously close. But Carole didn’t take no for an answer.

‘’And has this guy a name?’’ 

‘’Yes, of course he has.’’

‘’Care to mention it?’’

‘’Mum, what kind of interrogation is this? I’m not actually a criminal, you know.’’ Kate answered indignantly.

‘’Kate, please. You always tell me everything, including all the boys stuff, so I’m just wondering why you won’t tell me who it is. Or did you have sex with him once and be done with it? Are you becoming that kind of girl now?’’ Carole stared at her daughter.

‘’MUM! How can you even think such a thing, of course not! Alright then, if you must know. his name is Will. I didn’t want to say anything because I know you were going to flip out if you knew I had a boyfriend. It’s very new and I don’t know how serious it is going to be.’’ 

‘’Thank you. Are you and Will using protection?’’ Carole winked at Kate. ‘’Sorry, lame joke. I’m happy for you, honey. Do you want it to get serious?’’

Kate blushed. She did. She was so very much in love with him. But the prospect of being in the picture and being a part of his family she found very frightening. ‘’I don’t know. It’s very complicated.’’

Carole laughed. ‘’How can it be complicated when it’s not even a serious relationship yet? Come on, let’s go inside. I’m getting very cold and have gathered all the herbs I need for the big dinner.’’

\----------

Kate flashed back to the present. It was like the moment was frozen still. Conversations with her mother after that moment at Christmas day flashed through her head. She had spoken to her mother on the phone every now and then, but had never seen her until today. She didn’t want to tell her mother who she was really dating over the phone. She wanted to have that conversation face to face. The same for Pippa, she didn’t know the details as well. She woke up from her thoughts when her mother finally said something, after what felt like minutes. 

‘’And you are?’’

Kate once again startled. Her mother didn’t recognize him? Well, she could actually see why she didn’t. William was dressed in an old shirt, his swim shorts and a pair of slippers. His hair was sticking out in all shapes and sizes and he was wearing a pair of sunglasses.

William put down the bag he was still holding and said, ‘’Excuse me for not introducing myself. I’m William Wales.’’ He held out his hand. 

Michael, not quite realizing who was standing in front of him, grabbed the hand Will was holding out. ‘’Welcome, William. I’m Michael, Kate’s father.’’

“Nice to meet you, sir.’’ William smiled at him.

‘’Kate, a word?!’’ Carole beckoned Kate to the kitchen. When they were inside, she closed the door carefully. ‘’Care to explain why the future King is standing in my living room, dressed in his swimsuit, for the love of God?! You can’t be serious, Kate.’’

‘’Well, actually, I am. This is the William I mentioned to you at Christmas. Do you understand why I didn’t want to tell you all the details now?’’ Kate’s tone was defensive.

‘’But, Kate, what are you doing? Do you know what you are letting yourself into?’’ Carole was worried instantly.

“I do, Mum, but nobody knows we are dating, except for Olivia and Fergus. Even Pippa doesn’t know a thing. We agreed we wouldn’t tell anyone to keep it a secret for the media and paparazzi. I haven’t told you anything because I didn’t want to have such a conversation over the phone. We actually are serious. We are dating for about six months now.’’

Carole could see by looking at Kate speaking those words that she was very much in love with him. ‘’Are you being careful? You sure you’re not just his next fling?’’

‘’Of course, Mum, stop worrying. He is great. Let’s go back in and see for yourself.’’

When they re-entered the living room, they immediately saw Michael had realized who he was talking to: he was stuttering and blushing like an idiot.

‘’Hi, William, I’m Carole. It’s nice to meet you.’’ Carole walked towards him. ‘’Should we give you a hand with the cooking?’’

Kate smiled. Thank God her mother acted like William was the guy next door. ‘’Hey, Dad, where is James?’’ 

‘’Oh, we sent him to the store to get some food in for tonight. Obviously, we didn’t know you were here already.’’ Michael had recovered from his previous shock. ‘’So, you two are an item, then?’’ he asked.

‘’Yes, Dad, for almost six months now. It is going really well.’’ Kate smiled at William and stepped a little bit closer to him. He put an arm around her shoulders. 

Michael stared. ‘’I’m not really used having royalty as boyfriends for my daughters, you know,’’ he said. 

‘’Please, sir, don’t treat me as royalty. I want to be treated the same as you would do with other boyfriends.’’ William answered. 

‘’Well, I’m not sure how. For one thing, I’m used to call them by their first names, but I’m not sure how to address you.’’ 

William smiled. ‘’Please, call me William or Will.’’

‘’Then you can call me Michael, instead of the formal ‘sir’.’’ Michael managed to smile at Will and Kate. 

‘’Don’t worry, Dad,’’ Kate encouraged him, ‘’you’ll be used to him in no time. Will really is the best.’’ 

‘’I can only hope so, Katie.’’ Michael winked and walked to the kitchen to help his wife with cooking dinner. 

William let go of Kate and breathed out. ‘’Pfff, that was tense. I didn’t know you hadn’t told them a single thing.’’

‘’Well, that was the deal,’’ Kate answered, ‘’so I kept to my part.’’

William grinned. ‘’At least I know now your loyalty is never to be trusted.’’ He leaned towards her to give her a kiss. As his lips met hers, they both startled at the sound of a loud BANG.

James was storming into the living room. ‘’Mum, Dad, you’ll never guess who I just saw! Prince William! He was in the store as well! Prince William!’’ He suddenly came to a halt, when he saw everyone standing there. He looked from William to Kate, to William again and then his parents. ‘’Oh’’, was all he managed to say. 

‘’William, this is our son James. He is our youngest. James, this is William. He is Kate’s boyfriend.’’ Carole introduced them.

James stared. ‘’What? Her boyfriend? How’s that even possible? Shouldn’t a prince date an aristocrat or something?’’ 

Michael coughed. 

‘’Oh, right,’’ James put himself back together. ‘’Hi, William, nice to meet you.’’ 

‘’You too.’’ William struggled not to burst out laughing. The whole situation was like a scene from a comedy.   
\---------------------------  
When they sat down for dinner later that night, Kate’s parents and James were warming up to the idea that they were having a Prince in their home. They thought William was a really nice guy and he and Kate seemed really in love with one another. He was really well behaved, but not posh or arrogant at all. If they didn’t know his background, he could just be a normal boy. 

When William and Kate were lying in bed later that evening, they were still grinning about what happened before. ‘’Looks like my Dad gets his funny storing about meeting the in-laws after all’’, William said.

Kate smiled. ‘’Well, maybe this was for the best. If you had known weeks in advance you were going to meet them, then maybe you had become all nervous. You didn’t have a chance for that today.’’

‘’No, they were the ones being all nervous.’’ 

‘’Well, how would you react if suddenly their was a Prince in your house, and on top of that, he appears to be dating your daughter?’’ Kate asked.

‘’I don’t know about the second part of that question, but I’m very used to having a Prince in my house,’’ William joked. 

Kate sighed. ‘’Can’t you give a normal reply for once?’’ 

‘’Of course I can. Look, I liked your parents. I want to get to know them and become a part of this family, for at least during this vacation.’’ William stroked the hair out of Kate’s face. ‘’What do you think of that?’’

Kate nestled into his arms. ‘’Thank you,’’ she whispered. 

The next week was full of joyous activities. William got on really well with the Middletons, especially Carole. James was still a bit timid around William, but after they went on a fishing trip together, that was over. James didn’t want to tell Kate what is was they had been talking about.

‘’Come on, James, ‘’don’t be stupid. You have barely talked to him this past three days and now you guys went fishing for four hours and suddenly you are the best of friends. What happened?’’

James only grinned and walked away. William wasn’t keen on telling Kate either. ‘’That’s a boy thing, honey, something between James and me.’’ 

‘’Hmmpff,’’ was the only reply he got. 

When dinner that night was over, Michael asked his daughter if she wanted to go mountain biking with him the next day.

‘’Sure, that’ll be good fun! Can Will also come along?’’

‘’No.’’ Carole was the one who answered.

‘’Why not?’’ Kate was surprised by her mother’s abruptness.

‘’Because I have something else planned for him,’’ Carole winked. 

‘’What’s that?’’ Will asked. 

‘’Oh, you wait and see. It’s going to be good fun. See you two tomorrow. Good night.’’  
Michael and Carole walked upstairs.

‘’Do you have any clue what they were talking about?’’ William asked Kate.

‘’Not at all, but it is obvious they don’t want us to be together tomorrow. Strange.’’   
\----------  
Kate got up really early the next morning for her bike trip with her Dad. They both enjoyed seeing a nice sun rise and getting up early was the price to pay for that.

‘’I’m gone, Wills. Good luck with whatever my Mum has planned for you today.’’ Kate kissed him goodbye.

‘’Have fun. I hope I’ll have fun too.’’ Will’s voice sounded sleepy. 

‘’Of course you will. Mum doesn’t bite.’’ But William had already fallen back to sleep. 

 

Hours later, he woke for the second time. Feeling nervous, he made his way downstairs. 

‘’Morning, Carole.’’

‘’Ah, there you are. You don’t have to look so frightened. As Mike is taking Kate on a trip, I thought it would be a good opportunity for us to spend some time together. Kate is always very hungry after a workout and you know how much she likes sweets, so I had the idea to put those two things together and bake her her favorite dessert, sticky toffee pudding.’’

Will fell silent. He hadn’t expected any of this. He thought maybe Carole would sit him down and talk about his relationship with Kate or something, but baking? No, that surely hadn’t crossed his mind. Feeling momentarily relieved, he smiled at Carole. ‘’Great plan. But the thing is, I can’t cook at all.’’

‘’Not a problem. That’s what I’m here for. Grab some breakfast, so we can go to the store.’ William did as he was told. 

Two hours later, William had second thoughts about Carole’s plan. He was sweating his head off. He had clotted cream on his face and his hands were covered in chocolate. Dressed in a kitchen apron, he still managed to get his clothes dirty. ‘’Tell me, Carole, why was this a fun thing again?’’

Carole smiled. ‘’First time baking is always hard, William, but you’re doing great. We’re almost done. Here, put the mixture in the cake pan and then in the oven. Right there, yes. Good, that’s all! Good job, Will.’’

‘’Well, you did the most of it, I don’t deserve any credit.’’

‘’That’s not true, William, you helped with every step. Now go and have a shower. I think you’ll need one.’’ Carole laughed at him.

‘’Thank you for taking time out of your day and doing this with me, Carole. I really, really appreciate it.’’ William fell silent for a moment, feeling a wave of emotion rush through him. If only his mother.... Not wanting to think about that now, he pushed the thought back.

‘’It was my pleasure, William, and I hope you had a good time.’’

Now it was William’s turn to smile. ‘’I sure did. You’re a good teacher.’’

‘’Thank you. I really liked getting to know you better. Now go and have that shower.’’ If Carole noticed anything about what William was thinking and feeling at the moment, she didn’t act like it. 

William left. He was feeling confused. He really had a great time with Carole. She was pleasant company and their conversation had flowed naturally. William could be completely himself and he was happy about that. Then why was he feeling so low suddenly? Letting the water stream over his head, he knew why. It was a very long time ago that he had been so close with someone who could be his mother in age. Camilla of course he had in his own family, but because he lived in St. Andrews all the time, that wasn’t the same. Besides, she didn’t fulfill the mother role for him back home, quite simply because he didn’t need it. He never had felt the urge to bake in the kitchen with her or something like that. William was sure Camilla would be delighted if he asked her, but when he was home he’d rather hang out with Harry. But right now his heart was aching. All of a sudden he was jealous at Kate and her family and the strong bond they had. He was missing his own mother terribly. He again tried to push these feelings to the back of his head. He never had spoken at length about his mother with Kate, but she knew how he felt about the subject. That was why she never brought it up. As he spoke very little about it, Kate wouldn’t expect him to feel like he did this moment. Right now, it was about his holiday here. She could be back soon and he didn’t want to spoil the mood with his low spirits. He was fairly sure Carole hadn’t noticed anything and was glad about that. As much as he wanted to become friends with her, he didn’t feel the need to ramble about his past so soon. She sure would fuss about him and he didn’t want that. She had her own children to care for.   
\---------------------------

William tried to act cheerfully that evening. It wasn’t very difficult as he was not the centre of the attention. Everyone wanted to know how Michael had fallen of his bike. Landing in the sand, he wasn’t injured. 

‘’And then,’’ Kate hiccupped with laughter, ‘’he looked back to see if I could catch up with him – for he bragged the whole way he could go faster on the part with all the sand, tripped over a stone and fell flat on his face!’’ 

With stories such as that one, it was easy to laugh along with the others and pretended everything was fine. 

‘’Kate, I have a surprise for you,’’ William said as they neared the end of the dinner. ‘’It was your mother’s plan and she did almost everything –‘’

‘’Hey, hey, that’s not true, it is your accomplishment.’’ Carole answered smiling.

‘’What are you talking about?’’ Kate asked impatiently, ‘’Am I finally going to learn about your conspiracy?’’ 

‘’Wait and see.’’ William departed to the kitchen. 

When he reappeared, he said, ‘’Close your eyes.’’

Doing as she was told, William put the toffee pudding on her plate. ‘’Okay, you can look now.’’

Kate squealed with delight when she saw the treat standing before her eyes. ‘’You made this? I can’t believe it! You couldn’t even bake some eggs!’’ Kate stood up and swung her arms around William. ‘’Thank you, it’s really sweet.’’ 

‘’No problem, it was good fun.’’ William answered, happy she liked it. ‘’I hope it tastes well.’’

‘’Oh, I have no doubt about that,’’ Carole said. 

It tasted delicious. William was quite proud of himself, as were the others. 

‘’You should cook every night,’’ Michael winked.

‘’What, you don’t like my cooking?’’ Carole pretended to be insulted.

‘’Of course, but this way William can improve. I don’t care having to eat this every day.’’ 

They continued making jokes and teasing each other. When Kate made an insulting comment to James, he said, ‘’Hey, Dad, maybe you have to tell some embarrassing stories about Kate. William will love those.’’

‘’James, don’t be so mean!’’ Kate tried to steal some of his toffee from his plate. 

‘’No, actually, I think James has a point here.’’ Michael answered. ‘’That’ll learn how to behave. Let me think about a good one. William, what do you want to know?’’

William didn’t answer. He was once again lost in his own thoughts, at this point feeling really sad and miserable. When there came no reply from him, Carole asked softly, ‘’William, dear, is everything alright?’’ 

William didn’t have the strength to compose himself any longer. A tear escaped from his eye, rolling over his cheek. ‘’Excuse me.’’ He ran into the garden.

Kate looked at her parents and brother, all of them stupefied at his sudden outburst.


	3. Thinking

Kate stood up from the table, planning on going after him. 

‘’Kate, wait,’’ Carole said. ‘’I have a feeling what’s this about.’’  
\---------------------

‘’Mummy, I don’t want to go. I hate photographers.’’

‘’I know, Wombat, but you have to. Can you be brave for me? It’s only a couple of hours.’’ Diana stroked William’s hair. She knew today was difficult for him. He yet had to adjust to the fact on days like this he was the one everyone wanted to see. 

‘’You only have to do the balcony scene, and Harry will be there too.’’ 

William tried to crawl into the couch and covered his head with a pillow. ‘’No.’’

Charles entered the room, already fully dressed. Harry came running after him. ‘’Mummy, look! I am wearing my new suit!’’

‘’You look gorgeous, Harry! Why don’t you and me go to the hallway and practice your wave again. Daddy will stay here with Wills, alright?’’ Harry disappeared again and Diana walked behind him. 

With one look at his wife and his son halfway in the couch, Charles immediately understood the situation. He sat down by his ten year old son. He didn’t say anything. Slowly, William reappeared and looked at his Dad. 

‘’Are you mad at me?’’ he asked quietly. 

Charles smiled at him. ‘’Why would I be?’’

‘’Because I don’t want to go. I don’t want to be King. Then the people will stare at me the rest of my life.’’

Charles placed William on his lap. He was too big for this now, but the situation required an act like that. William immediately leaned back into his Dad’s chest. Charles wrapped his arms around him.

‘’I know how you feel, Wills. When I was your age, I felt the same. I didn’t want to be in the spotlight either. But you know what, things will be better, really.’’

‘’You say that every time I have to step out into the public, but I dread it every single time.’’ William mumbled.

‘’I know, kiddo.’’ Charles sighed. He really did know how William was feeling. It really was daunting for a ten year old, who should be playing outside and only have to worry about his homework. Unfortunately, that wasn’t how it worked in their family. ‘’When you’re older, you will understand more of it. You can actually use the media for causes close to your heart, like Mummy does with her charity work.’’ From the corner of his eye, Charles saw the door being opened. Diana nodded encouragingly at him. William was still leaning heavenly against him. 

‘’Times like these are hard for you. I totally understand. But you know, when you step out, they’ll leave you alone for some time after it. Then you can be completely yourself again.’’ He felt William nodding to his chest.

‘’I suppose that’s true.’’ 

‘’And you’ll be on the balcony, so they can’t ask you any questions today. You just have to be present for like fifteen minutes.’’ He repeated Diana’s words. ‘’Harry will be there too, you can talk to him.’’

‘’Harry isn’t the next in line. They only want to see me.’’ 

Charles sighed. They were going around in circles. He looked at his wife, who was mouthing a couple of words to him. Right.

‘’You know, Wills, Mummy and I didn’t want to say anything, because we thought it would be a nice surprise for you and Harry, but when this whole thing is over in a couple of hours, we’ll be going to Balmoral for a couple of days, so you two can relax out of the public eye.’’

William finally sat up straight and looked at his Dad expectantly. ‘’Really?’’

‘’Really.’’

William looked at his mother, who winked at him. ‘’Daddy’s idea.’’

William finally agreed.  
\----------------------------------------  
Twelve years later, William hated public engagements just as much as he did back then. Thinking about the wonderful holiday they spent at Balmoral, he felt the tears streaming down his cheeks. His parents were still happy together and the four of them had been really close. He heard someone approaching and his gut feeling told him it was Kate. She lied down beside him on the grass and took his hand in hers.

After a couple of minutes, William finally spoke. ‘’Your Mum saw right through me, didn’t she?’’

‘’Of course,’’ Kate answered, ‘’mothers notice that kind of stuff.’’

Again, they were silent. William was grateful Kate wasn’t asking any questions. She was just there. He spoke again.

‘’Twelve years ago was the last time a baked a cake.’’

Kate was silent. William never spoke much about his youth. He had told her some things about his mother and his life back then, but he always got very emotional so he preferred to live in the present.

‘’That’s nice.’’ Kate stroked his hand. 

‘’It was at Balmoral. Me and Mummy baked the cake and Harry and Dad were outside barbecuing the meat.’’ His voice broke. ‘’That was one of the last times we were a complete family.’’

‘’Tell me.’’

‘’It was right after another of those stupid public things. I didn’t want to do the balcony scene, but I had to. As a surprise for me and Harry, we were taken to Balmoral for a couple of days. It was summer, just after my tenth birthday. We had the best time over there. I really felt free, you know. There wasn’t any media glare or a paparazzi hiding in the bushes or something like that. It was just us.’’ Will fell silent for a moment. ‘’It really was a long time ago since I have felt like this morning with your Mum. Don’t get me wrong, I really had fun. I just wished mine was still around.’’ He looked at Kate. ‘’Do you think I’m being stupid for feeling things like this?’’

‘’You really are one big idiot.’’ Kate smiled at him. ‘’Thank you for opening up like that to me.’’ She fell silent too, gathering the courage to speak the next few words.

‘’Except I don’t think this is only about your Mum’s death and you’re family breaking apart. I think it is something deeper.’’ 

William sighed. ‘’I know.’’

Kate continued. ‘’I think you came to realize by being here with my family how much you missed and craved for normality. Now when you experienced this the last couple of days, that’s why the emotions of your past are rushing back to you.’’

‘’You should be a psychiatrist.’’

‘’Very funny. I’m serious though.’’

‘’I know, and you are quite right. I never knew how much I craved for this. I guess that’s what makes it so hard. Experiencing it and knowing it can never be.’’

‘’Of course it can!’’ Kate looked at him in amazement.

‘’Really, how? Even being in this little village caused your brother to storm into the house, yelling he had seen a prince. I’ll always be recognized ánd scrutinized, wherever I’ll go.’’

‘’Look, why don’t you do what your parents did? Go and have a nice time somewhere away from everybody?’’

‘’Because I do not want to spend my life hiding from the outside world!’’ William got angry.

‘’I’m just trying to help,’’ Kate said with a low voice.

William realized he had shouted at her. ‘’I’m sorry, honey, it wasn’t personal. I just – you know, every now and then there is always a time when something happens and I start thinking about my situation in life and if I want to be a part of this firm.’’ 

‘’That doesn’t matter,’’ Kate said. Now it was William’s turn to be amazed.

‘’What do you mean?’’

“Well, if you are going to be King, you are always in the spotlight, but it’ll also brings you good things, like your Dad said to you. But if you decline your right for the throne, you’ll still be followed and photographed everywhere because you’re still very, very famous and you’ll always be the one who denied his right to be King. Then you go and live somewhere in the middle of nowhere and still can’t go outside, because there will still be media around. But if you do become King, you can make a deal. You step out in public for charities and ceremonies and state visits and so on, but you will be left alone when you’re not on duty.’’ 

‘’A King is always on duty.’’

‘’Come on, Will, you know what I mean.’’

‘’I do know what you mean, I just don’t like it. Whatever the outcome, I’ll always be in the spotlight.’’ 

All of a sudden, William got up and pulled Kate up with him. ‘’What are you doing?’’

‘’Come on, let’s go. You were absolutely right and I love you for it.’’ He kissed her sweetly. ‘’Now let’s stop being depressed and make the most of our time here.’’ Kate smiled at him. ‘’You know, I’ll feel a bit down for the rest of the evening, but days like these come and go. I hope it’ll be a long time before the next one comes. The sun is setting already. Let’s have a walk in the dark. I’ll wear my baseball cap and hoodie. Then I’ll barely be recognized.’’

‘’Sounds like a plan. I will go in and get them for you.’’

Leaving William in the garden, Kate walked back to the house. When she entered, her parents and James immediately looked up. ‘’It’s alright,’’ she said, ‘’we’re going for a walk now. Hopefully that will take his mind of things.’’ 

Carole nodded. ‘’Have fun, you two.’’

Outside, William took a deep breath. Still feeling a bit shaky and emotional, he was tired. Walking would certainly clear his head, and Kate was with him. He always knew she was special. It was extraordinary how she dealt with him being part of the royal family. She was so lighthearted about the whole thing and always managed to cheer him up. He smiled at her when she reappeared with his cap and sweater. Placing his arm around her, he said: ‘’Now let’s go and only think about good things, like you, for example.’’

It was a pleasant summer evening, so even though it was dark, it was still warm enough to be outside. William and Kate walked through the green fields at the outskirts of the village. Neither of them spoke much, both lost in their own thoughts. William was still thinking about his outburst earlier tonight and felt he should apologize to Michael and especially Carole. They didn’t deserve him behaving like this. He really was grateful they accepted him as the boyfriend of their daughter, but furthermore treated him like he was part of the family while he knew them for a week or so. He squeezed Kate’s hand.   
Kate, however, was thinker far more depressing thoughts. She never really considered her having a future with William. When they were at St. Andrews, they hadn’t spoken about that topic at all, but now it seemed more important than ever. Back at the university they lived from day to day and their only concerns were passing the tests and having enough food in the house. With no paparazzi and journalists around, they could live like they wanted to. But tonight was different. Not only because of William’s emotional state, but it got Kate thinking about life outside their safe bubble they were living in right now. She had never seriously considered the consequences of dating a future King. To her, he was just a nice guy who she fell in love with. Only when she met Charles last April, she got a feeling of how William’s life must look like when he wasn’t at St. Andrews. Was she being naive? Her mother would certainly say she was not. She would stress the importance of living in the moment and enjoying her life as it was now. She did like how things were working out. She loved being at the university and was happy with the fact her parents had accepted William so soon as one of their own. With her last boyfriend, things weren’t so simple. Especially her father thought him too arrogant and didn’t warm up to him the two years he and Kate went out. And now they treated William as if he was their son just after a couple of days. Their relationship had become much more serious and mature this summer. 

‘’Kate, do you hear me?’’ William voice woke her up from her own thoughts.

‘’Hmm?’’ She replied.

‘’I asked you of you liked to walk back to town and get some ice cream.’’ William smiled at his distracted girlfriend. ‘’What were you thinking about?’’

‘’Oh, nothing, just lost in my own head.’’ Kate didn’t want to tell him, for it would make him only sad again. He just cheered up a bit. ‘’Let’s go, then.’’

When they walked back, they were a lot more talkative, especially William. He was still being serious, though.

‘’Kate, can I ask you something?’’

‘’Sure.’’

William took a deep breath. ‘’If you think it’s too soon, you should tell me.’’

‘’William, you’re scaring me, what is it? You are not going to ask me whether I would like to meet the Queen, right?’’ 

‘’No, but you’re not far off. It would really mean a lot to me if I can introduce you to Harry anytime soon. You know we are really close and with all the stuff that’s going around tonight, I should like it very much for you to meet more members of my family.’’ There, he had said it.

Kate was delighted. ‘’Of course I will meet Harry. I thought about that myself, but wanted you to take the step. Glad it’s not the Queen, though.’’ 

‘’Will you stop calling her the Queen? We are talking about my grandmother here, I call her ‘Granny’. You don’t call your own grandmother the Queen, do you?’’ 

‘’No’’, grinned Kate, ‘’but that’s very different.’’

‘’How come?’’ William didn’t understand where she was going.

‘’Well, my grandmother is, in fact, not the Queen.’’ Kate laughed out loud.

‘’Ha ha, really funny,’’ snorted William. ‘’But I’m serious, you calling her Queen sounds weird. I don’t want you to think about her status, but as her being my grandmother.’’ He gave her a pointed look.

‘’Relax, I was just joking around. I will try and stop calling her that. But you have to understand, I only thought of her being Queen for the most part of my life. Only recently she has a different connection to me.’’

‘’I know. It’s just, someday you’ll have to meet her and I don’t want you to see her as the Queen, but as a person very dear to my heart.’’

‘’I know, Wills, I said I’d try, but that’ll take some time, okay? Now, where were we on those ice creams?’’

They were standing in front of the fast food take-away deli. 

‘’You wait here, I will go and get some.’’ William gestured Kate should sit on a bench. ‘’Be right back.’’

Kate did as she was told. When she sat down, she could just feel the tension of the evening drip out of her body. She stared at the bushes on the other side of the road. Suddenly, they twitched. Kate startled. 

‘’What’s the matter?’’ William had come back, holding a sundae in each of his hands. 

‘’I thought I just saw someone crawling in those bushes over there.’’ Kate pointed at the spot she saw moving. ‘’It frightened me, so late on the evening.’’

‘’Don’t worry, it was probably a cat or mouse or something.’’ William sat down next to her. ‘’What, were you thinking about a camera or something?’’

‘’I don’t know,’’ Kate sighed. ‘’I’m being paranoid. Besides, nobody knows we are dating, let alone you are here this week.’’

‘’True,’’ William managed to reply with his mouth full of ice cream.

‘’You enjoying it?’’ Kate teased.

‘’You better start eating your own, or it will melt. That would be a terrible waste.’’ William sounded serious. 

‘’Yes, sir.’’ Kate started eating her own sundae. ‘’Good plan of yours, Wills, to walk back into town. Look what my reward is for coming with you.’’ She winked at him.

But William wasn’t looking or listening at his girlfriend. Like Kate did a couple minutes earlier, he was staring at the other side of the road. Suddenly, he got to his feet.

‘’Let’s get out of here. Now.’’ He grabbed Kate’s arm and pulled her along. 

‘’Hey, hey, what are you doing?’’ Kate sounded irritated.

‘’You were right before, I myself saw something as well.’’

‘’Yeah, but like you said, it was probably a cat.’’ Kate had to break into a jog to keep up with William. ‘’Slow down!’’ 

‘’No.’’ William kept walking straight ahead.

‘’Will!’’ Kate stopped. 

Abruptly, William turned around. ‘’Bit not good, Kate, believe me. Keep walking.’’

‘’Now you are the paranoid one, there was nothing to see! You said so yourself!’’ Kate didn’t move. William walked back to her, having a stormy expression on his face. 

‘’Hey, relax, okay?’’ Kate said softly when William was approaching her. ‘’It’s alright. False alarm. It’s late and nobody is around at this time of night, except the people working in the shops.’’ 

William sighed. ‘’Alright, let’s go home.’’

‘’It seems we can’t catch a break tonight. Let’s watch a movie together when we get home, we really need to relax at the moment.’’

William didn’t reply. 

‘’Wills, do you hear me?’’ 

‘’What did you say before?’’ William looked thoughtful and concerned at the same time.

‘’Will you stop looking like that at me? It creeps me out every time.’’ 

‘’What did you say before?’’ William demanded.

‘’Uh, I don’t know, about watching a movie back home.’’

‘’No, the other thing.’’

‘’What, about people working late? You don’t have to look so surprised. It’s a small town, Bucklebury, but we still do have shops, you know.’’ Kate sounded indignant.

‘’That’s not what I meant at all. What if – what if someone working at one of the shops saw me when I bought groceries and a movie the other night, right before your parents came home? They could’ve contacted a newspaper or magazine.’’ 

‘’But why would they do that?’’

‘’Because there is absolutely no reason at all why I would spent my summer here, while everyone expect to see me at Balmoral. There’s an interesting story there!’’ 

They reached a traffic light. ‘’I think you take this too far, Wills.’’

William simply shrugged. ‘’Maybe, but I just have a bad feeling about it. Watch out, someone’s coming from the right.’’ He grabbed Kate’s hand to stop her from walking right through.

William stopped that at the sight of the person approaching them. Kate looked from Will to the stranger and her mouth fell open in horror. William was right after all.

It was a paparazzo, holding a big camera in front of his face.


	4. Solution

‘’Kate, honey –‘’ William tried to speak to Kate, but she wouldn’t stop crying. Since they had come back from their disastrous walk Kate had locked herself in her bedroom. William could not enter it. The worst part was that Kate was already three hours in there. It was long past midnight.

When they had come back, Kate immediately had gone into hiding, leaving William to explain the situation to Carole and Michael, who both looked beyond amazement at the scene their daughter was making. William hadn’t known what to say. He’d never seen Kate like this before. 

‘’Did you guys have a fight? I thought everything was okay, after, you know, earlier tonight.’’ Carole was used to having Kate come to her when she was miserable or sad and now she didn’t know what caused such behaviour from her tonight. 

‘’No, no, it’s nothing like that,’’ William said absentmindedly. He stared at the hallway, where Kate had disappeared.

‘’Well,’’ demanded Michael, ‘’what did happen?’’ 

William took a deep breath. ‘’We were pictured by a journalist.’’

Michael and Carole, not realizing they had sprung up from the couch when William and Kate had come back, slowly sank back onto it. 

‘’What does this mean?’’ Carole asked at last.

‘’Well,’’ William started explaining the whole rollercoaster that lay ahead of them, ‘’I guess the pictures will be on the internet in only a couple of hours – on sites like the Daily Mail or something – and probably in the next issue of the Sun or Hello magazine, Kate and me will be on the cover. The whole country – and the rest of the world, for that matter – will know what Kate is.’’

‘’The boyfriend of the second in line to the throne.’’ Michael finished his sentence.

‘’Exactly. But maybe this isn’t the worst part. Kate has lost her privacy tonight. Whenever she steps outside, she will be photographed. I would take my left hand for it if there aren’t a bunch of paparazzi heading to this village right now.’’ 

‘’Kate is a tough one,’’ Carole interjected. ‘’She will handle it.’’ 

‘’I can only hope so.’’ William sighed. ‘’She will get haunted by those people. They’ll want to know everything about her and as soon as possible. She will need some sort of media training.’’

‘’But – I don’t understand,’’ Michael said. ‘’How many people knew you were here in Bucklebury this week?’’

‘’I told my Dad and I expect him to have informed the rest of the family – his wife, my brother and grandmother – about my whereabouts.’’

‘’But they did obviously not tell the media where you were,’’ Carole was thinking out loud. ‘’Did you tell any of your friends?’’

‘’No, we did not want to take that risk.’’

Michael got impatient. ‘’How could’ve anyone possibly know you are here?!’’

‘’On the night you came home from your holidays, I went out to buy some food and rent a movie, remember? It is possible someone in either shop has recognized me and blabbed to the paparazzi. I can’t think of anything else.’’

‘’But, I didn’t even recognize you!’’ Carole said. ‘’How could anyone else have?’’

‘’It is always a possibility,’’ William shrugged. ‘’I of course looked the cashier in the eye and spoke with her.’’ He said down on the couch as well, holding his head in his hands. ‘’This was definitely not my idea of exposing Kate to the world. They had to find out sometime, of course, but I always thought I could say when and where. It would still be scary, but at least she would’ve been prepared.’’

Carole patted him on his back. ‘’William, this is not your fault.’’

He simply shook his head. Michael stood up. ‘’I’m going to make everyone some tea.’’

‘’I will see if I can talk to Kate.’’ Carole was gone as well. 

William glanced at the clock above the fireplace. 01.00 am. He wanted to call his Dad, but wasn’t sure he would still be awake. Harry would, maybe he could pass him on to Charles. He dialed his brother’s number, but it went to voicemail. He tried again, but still nothing. He leaned back against the cushions and thought about his next step, when he felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. 

‘’Dad? Why are you calling me?’’ William was surprised.

‘’I saw you called Harry twice, so I wanted to make sure everything is okay. You don’t usually call at this time at night.’’

‘’No, unfortunately, it’s is not okay.’’ William explained everything that had happened from the moment he and Kate had sat down on that damned bench. Thankfully, Charles was really understanding. He promised William he would phone his lawyer first thing in the morning. William doubted it could be effective, however. Surely, the magazine would get a punishment for breaking the privacy code, but if they only published pictures of Kate, nothing would happen. She was not a member of the Royal family, so that code didn’t apply to her. It would become effective when they got married. As they were only dating a couple of months, William couldn’t see that happening in the near future. 

Right now, William was knocking on Kate’s bedroom door, yet without any result. She didn’t want to speak with Carole, who had come down after some time. They had silently drunk their tea, after which William felt obligated to tell them about his conversation with Charles. Thad had talked with each other a long time. 

He knocked again. ‘’Please, Kate, let me in. You don’t have to talk to me. I just want to be with you and comfort you. I’ll even sleep on the floor if you don’t want me near you.’’ Sensing his knocking didn’t have the slightest effect, he sat down against the bathroom door, which was opposite Kate’s bedroom. He tried talking her letting him one last time. If she didn’t respond to that as well, he would sleep on the couch in the living room. He was exhausted. ‘’I know me saying I know how you feel is a stupid cliché, but in this case I do know. I am in the spotlight since the day I’ve been born. The world has seen me at my best and at my worst.’’

It appeared that did the trick. The sobs stopped and William could hear feet shuffling near the door. He got on his feet, just when Kate finally opened the door. William felt incredible compassion at the sight of her tear shed face. 

‘’Can I come in now?’’ he asked softly. Kate nodded.

William told Kate about the conversation with his father, just as he had done with Carole and Michael. She seemed to calm down a bit, when he was doing the talking, although she was still crying silently. William pulled Kate towards him.

‘’It’s going to be okay, honey. I will make sure you never get haunted like my mother.’’ He felt Kate nodding. Finally, she started talking.

‘’It’s just – I have never seen you primarily as a prince. You were just my friend and later on my boyfriend. You were never like ‘’Prince William’’ to me like to all the girls who nearly faint when they see you around at the university.’’ 

William smiled. ‘’I’m glad. That was exactly what I wanted to be at St. Andrews. Part of why I liked you as a friend so much was because of just that – that you never treated me differently.’’ He wiped a tear from her cheek. 

‘’Do you think I’m being naive?’’ Kate asked with a small voice. 

‘’What? No, of course not! Why should I? We have never spoken together about the future and what that will mean to you. We were just dating, and I think we are doing really well just because we don’t think about the future too much.’’

‘’Yes, but all of a sudden I’m dating the heir to the throne instead of a nice bloke I met while studying. The whole world surely wants to know everything about me. I’m not ready for that and I doubt I will ever be.’’

‘’Don’t worry about that. For all we know, we could split up after two months from now.’’

Kate looked at him, frightened. 

‘’No, not like that,’’ he continued. ‘’I’m just saying we shouldn’t worry about what’s far off in the future.’’ 

Kate nodded again. ‘’I agree.’’

‘’And for now, you will get media training from one of my Dad’s personal assistants. Then you know what to do if you’ll be followed by journalists.’’

Kate sat on her bed. ‘’It is becoming very serious, very fast.’’

William sat next to her. ‘’Hey, don’t worry about that. You’ll be here, safe at your parent’s house this whole summer and I’ll be at Balmoral. The media will follow me. And after that, we’ll be back at uni, where no paparazzi is allowed during my study-period. Just make sure you graduate before I do and you will be left alone.’’ William joked. 

At last, Kate could laugh again. ‘’You make sure you stay my boyfriend, otherwise you won’t graduate at all.’’ She playfully tickled him.

Both being relieved the tension was gone, they laid in bed a long time – watching whatever program was on the television – before finally going to sleep.

\--

The remaining part of their second week at Bucklebury, William and Kate spent relatively quietly and peacefully. By just staying at home, they didn’t give the media what they wanted: more pictures of them together. Kate handled being on the cover of a magazine really well, William thought. The photograph wasn’t a bad one, she only looked really surprised at the camera. Although they were just hanging by the pool and playing silly games, the days went by fast. Before they knew it, it was their last dinner together, after which William would leave for Scotland. Carole had cooked a really lovely dinner and William baked his second toffee pudding,, an experience he enjoyed much more that last time. He still thought the whole process nerve wracking, but at least he wasn’t covered in chocolate. 

‘’Too bad,’’ Kate laughed when they were lying in the grass before dinner. ‘’Otherwise I could have licked you clean.’’ 

‘’Don’t let you father hear that.’’ William looked up, but nobody was around. ‘’Do you know where James is?’’ he asked her.

‘’We are enjoying our last moment together before I have to miss you for four weeks and you have the audacity to ask where my brother is?’’ Kate laughed. ‘’I don’t know, why?’’ 

‘’I have to ask him something,’’ William responded vaguely. 

‘’What are you two on about? And don’t give me this ‘’it’s a guy thing’’ nonsense. James used to talk to me about all kinds of stuff.’’

‘’You look really sexy when you are talking so strictly, do you know that?’’ William teased.

Kate sighed. She hated not knowing, but William kept his mouth shut. She tried giving him her best puppy eyes.

‘’Haha, I’m not falling for that one, Middleton. I promised him.’’ William grinned. ‘’Oh, there he is!’’ William jumped to his feet and ran to James. 

‘’How did it go?’’ was the last thing Kate could hear. Deciding she shouldn’t feel frustrated on her last day with William, she closed her eyes and let the happy moments they enjoyed here together wash over her. She laughed out loud when she thought back to the evening when James had emptied a bucket filled with water above William’s head. He had teased her brother about the few hairs he had growing on his cheeks, but James rightfully had taken revenge. Standing there, soaked from head to toe, William hadn’t known what to do. He went upstairs to fetch dry clothes. Later that night it had turned out he had hidden James’s phone while he was inside to change. Kate smiled about this almost brotherly behaviour between the two of them. William had a younger brother, so of course he knew perfectly how to tease hers. James, on the other hand, grew up with only two older sisters and wasn’t used to boyish pranks like that. He absolutely loved having another guy in the family. There were only so much pranks you could play on your Dad. 

William had come back, his secret conversation with James being over. 

‘’Can I finally know what’s this about?’’ Kate expected another ‘’no’’, but to her surprise William said ‘’Yes, but he made me swear you wouldn’t tease him about it.’’ 

Kate sat upright. ‘’Really? Tell me!’’

‘’He has a really big crush on this girl in town.’’

Kate punched in the air. ‘’That’s why he was acting so paranoid the night you hid his phone! And you knew of course. He must’ve told you when you were on that fishing trip together, right?’’ 

William nodded in agreement. 

‘’Ha, this is so cool!’’ Kate was practically giddy with the news and stayed so during the whole evening. She was only a little bit sad when William had to leave, but they would see each other soon, when the new term started. Her parents had a nice little surprise for him: Carole had made him a photo album filled with pictures from his two-week stay. William hadn’t known what to say. Instead, he firmly embraced both Carole and Michael.

‘’See you all very soon,’’ he promised, giving James a high five and Kate a last kiss. With that, he was off. 

\-----

Kate wasn’t even too bored the weeks William was gone. Turned out he was right about the paparazzi following him to Scotland, so she could carefree step outside whenever she wanted. Even though Augustus was a typically wet month, she enjoyed going on trips with James and Pippa. Her sister had returned home to spend the last two weeks of her holiday with her family. With the usual chaos by having all the three kids in the house, nobody realized they hadn’t told Pippa about William. On one night, Kate showed her mother a picture William had sent her, in which he and Charles were making silly faced at each other. 

‘’Hey Michael, come look at William,’’ Carole said. 

‘’What’s going on? Who’s William?’’ Pippa didn’t understand. 

‘’He’s Kate’s boyfriend.’’ Michael answered. 

‘’Kate’s got a boyfriend?!’’ Pippa cried. ‘’Hell, I want to see him!’’ She ran to the computer Carole and Kate were looking at. Michael wanted to stop her to prepare her for what she was about to see, but she was too fast. She looked disappointed at the computer screen. 

‘’Haha, very funny. That’s Prince William. Do you really think I’m falling for that one?’’

‘’Well, he is Kate’s boyfriend,’’ Carole said.

‘’Mum, please.’’ Pippa thought they were messing with her.

James entered the room. ‘’Hey, Kate, listen to this! William just texted to ask how things are going with Annabel!’’ She was the girl from town, his first crush. ‘’Isn’t that nice of him? What are you guys looking at?’’ He came forward to look at the screen as well. ‘’Funny picture of Will,’’ he said. ‘’Oh look, you can still see that scar on his knee from when he tripped over my ball the other day, remember?’’

Kate nodded. ‘’You’re right, that was a nasty accident.’’

‘’James, are you part of this conspiracy as well?’’ Pippa asked. She was getting irritated.

James looked at her in amazement. ‘’Conspiracy? William is Kate’s boyfriend. He spent two weeks here, when you were away with your friends. He even gave me some girl advice.’’ James said this very matter-of-factly, like it was the most normal thing in the world. He walked outside, not bothering to wait for a reply. 

Pippa looked perplexed. ‘’Is this really the truth?’’ she asked her sister.

Kate smiled. ‘’Let’s go for a walk, I have so much to tell you.’’

Pippa practically sprinted towards the door.

\----

And now, Kate was sitting in a dark corner of their favorite pub at St. Andrews. She smiled when she thought back to the moment Pippa found out about her and William. She loved she could finally share everything with her sister.

‘’Lost in your own head again?’’ William had entered. 

‘’Will!’’ Kate shrieked. She jumped up and gave him a tight hug. ‘’How I’ve missed you!’’ 

‘’Me too.’’ William kissed her. 

‘’I want to know everything about Balmoral,’’ Kate said. 

They sat down and ordered drinks. William told her everything that had happened the past four weeks. They had a lovely evening together. Kate loved it. She could sit close to William, kiss him, laugh with him and nobody cared. She shared this thought with him.

‘’I know,’’ he acknowledged. ‘’That’s part of the reason why I wanted to take you out tonight. I’m glad you enjoy it so much.’’

After dinner when they walked home holding hands, there was still no photographer around. Kate was could sing out loud, she happy she was feeling. William smiled at her. At Balmoral, he had spoken with his grandmother about the whole situation and he was very pleased about the way she was dealing with it. Her attitude was very relaxed. She made him promise not to rush anything if Kate wasn’t feeling comfortable yet. That was very important, she’d said. If Kate feels rushed or pressured, their relationship would suffer. William took this advice by heart. It didn’t matter when Kate officially became his girlfriend to the world. As long as he was in college, he didn’t need to show up at royal engagements anyway. He and Kate could relish their relationship for a long time before that day came. 

‘’What are you thinking about?’’ Kate asked. 

‘’You,’’ answered William truthfully. ‘’Of course I’m thinking about you.’’

‘’Slimy bugger,’’ Kate laughed. ‘’Come on, let’s go home. I want to make the most of our night together before the chaos of college starts again and you complain you don’t have enough time for me because you need to study.’’

William opened his mouth to protest it was exactly the other way around, when he saw the look on Kate’s face. Of course she was joking. 

‘’Come on, Prince Charming, what are you waiting for?’’ They felt the first raindrops fall and Kate started to run. William shook his head and followed, feeling happy he’d found a girl who didn’t follow him everywhere but took her own plan. He knew by instinct Kate could handle all the media pressure one day, she was so very headstrong. He wanted to tell her that, but she was too far away already. 

‘’Hurry up, you’re slow!’’ she called from a distance. 

William caught up with her and embraced her. ‘’I’m so happy I met you, you make me feel so normal.’’ 

Kate only smiled at him. Then her face became serious. 

‘’What’s the matter?’’ William asked.

‘’Nothing, I just realized how much we’ve grown up this summer. Someday I’’ll be ready to face the paparazzi, I guess.’’

‘’Don’t think about that now. Want to buy an ice cream? Picture free, I promise.’’ William winked at her.

‘’On one condition.’’

‘’Name it.’’

‘’We’re not going to eat it sitting down on a bench.’’


End file.
